Why I am not enjoying the Toronto Raptors anymore

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Pretty bold way to start a Thursday right? Hope you have had your coffee. I’ve been holding back some feelings. As we near today’s trade deadline at 3pm EST, I am hopeful that we have some clarity on what this team is and will become. Because, watching what the current product is as a whole from on the court, to the broadcast and even the social media discourse, has become unenjoyable.

Let’s start with the actual team. In the past several months, any remnants of the 2019 title team has been removed. No more FVV, no more OG and no more Pascal. It’s clear how much we miss those guys due to how much we now focus on the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. FVV, OG and Pascal became part of the family.

At least in our household, we talked about them like we knew them.

A Pascal Siakim appreciation post

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Well it happened. Like I mentioned yesterday, it felt like the time was coming. The Toronto Raptors finally pulled the trigger on a Pascal Siakim deal. He’s off to the Indiana Pacers for a less than thrilling haul of stuff. The 2019 championship team is gone. It’s really hard to believe.

So before I start to welcome Bruce Brown Jr. (if he isn’t traded again) and start to wonder who these first round picks can become, I want to focus on Pascal.

One of the truly wonderful stories, not only for the Raptors, but for basketball.

So long to the NBA champion Toronto Raptors

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Despite my wife saying it’s been in a the news for weeks and weeks, it seems the trading of Pascal Siakim is finally here. It could be today or this week is my feeling.

When it actually does happen, that will be the end of the 2019 title team. All the players will be gone. The coach is gone. I guess the only pieces left are the executive team that built it all. Oh and We The North.

It’s hard to believe that in less than 5 years, it will all be gone and to be honest, the team has declined quite a bit since.

Now, things have looked a little better as of late with the trade for IQ and RJ, but still, look at what the team was in 2019. It was a perfect team. I think it gets overlooked at just how complete a team it was.

The night Darko became the Raptors coach (for real)

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It has been an up and down season for the Toronto Raptors. Expectations were kind of high for this team, at least in terms of creating an upbeat culture again and some positive vibes.

The key to it all was the new coach that was hired before the season – Darko Rajaković.

To say it’s been a bumpy ride so far, would be an understatement. The good vibes have been certainly there and you can’t deny Darko is an upbeat and positive guy. He was dubbed early as a Serbian Ted Lasso.

The pure joy of seeing your team win for the first time

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For me it was April 3, 1989. It was a Monday night, I was allowed to stay up and watch my Michigan Wolverines take on the Seton Hall Pirates in the Men’s college basketball National Championship.

The Wolverines won in an OT thriller that I still remember quite vividly as I watched in the Corunna basement (which tells you, it was a long time ago).

Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills and ol’ Coach Fisher got it done it what was a Cinderalla run (even though they were a very good team). You always remember the first time you see YOUR team win the title.

The Raptors have changed Quickley

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Good morning, the sun is shining and the entire mood has changed when it comes to the Toronto Raptors. It was only a few days ago where the rug was pulled out, not only in saying goodbye to OG, but that loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons. What a difference the changing of the calendar has brought.

The entire vibe has changed. There is juice in the building. The Raptors are back? All because of a trade that has balanced the roster and given the team what looks like a new identity.

Pre postseason look at my NBA predictions

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Giannis Antetokounmpo

As the NBA season approaches the postseason, there are so many wild story lines happening. So, no better time to look back at my preseason predictions to see what I got right and wrong. Spoiler alert, I did not get much right.

But to be fair, few could have predicted the Sacramento Kings being awesome. Or Kevin Durant getting traded to Phoenix. The Wemby sweepstakes were not as obvious as anticipated. More teams seem to really care about the play in. And many things have aligned to make scoring at an all time high.

Will things return to the norm once we enter the playoffs? Or will the unexpected continue to happen?

Here is a review of my preseason predictions followed with how I am doing.

March Madness just isn’t the same

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Watching college basketball in March is one of my favourite things to do. Every year (except for the first COVID year), the last few weeks of March and start of April are all about buzzer beaters, heartaches and watching a new batch of college kids shine or crumble under the pressures of the craziest sports tournament on the planet.

Just this past weekend I watched teams both steal and hand away games with under 10 minutes to go. While it’s hard to watch when a team messes up your bracket, it makes sense. These are essentially kids playing in front of millions of viewers. They are not professional athletes (yet) and with so few stars sticking around for more than a year, of course there will be meltdowns and brain farts.

But even with the unexpected teams moving on.

Despite the buzzer beaters and feel good stories.

To me, the tournament just isn’t the same. Maybe I am just getting old and after ## years of watching this tourney I am just getting crusty.

Revisiting my 2022-23 NBA Predictions

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Now that we are over half done the 2022-23 NBA season, I thought it was a good practice to revisit my early season predictions. It’s been an odd season so far, especially from the perspective of a Toronto Raptors fan. Boy was I off. Scoring is way up, no team looks like they are unbeatable and honestly I think the biggest key to winning the title will be health.

Here are my predictions for the season with a little commentary added on how it’s going as of January 30th.